Directed by John Huston • 1950 • United States
Starring Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen
In a smog-choked city somewhere in the American Midwest, an aging criminal mastermind, newly released from prison, hatches a plan for a million-dollar jewel heist and draws a wealthy lawyer and a cherry-picked trio of outlaws into his carefully devised but inevitably doomed scheme. Anchored by an abundance of nuanced performances from a gifted ensemble—including a tight-jawed Sterling Hayden and a sultry Marilyn Monroe in her breakout role—this gritty crime classic by John Huston climaxes in a meticulously detailed anatomy of a robbery that has reverberated through the genre ever since. An uncommonly naturalistic view of a seamy underworld, THE ASPHALT JUNGLE painstakingly depicts the calm professionalism and toughness of its gangster heroes while evincing a remarkable depth of compassion for their all-too-human fragility, and it showcases a master filmmaker at the height of his powers.
Up Next in 1950: Peak Noir
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Night and the City
Directed by Jules Dassin • 1950 • United States
Starring Richard Widmark, Gene Tierney, Googie WithersTwo-bit hustler Harry Fabian (Richard Widmark) longs for “a life of ease and plenty.” Trailed by an inglorious history of go-nowhere schemes, he tries to hatch a lucrative plan with a famous wr...
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Caged
Directed by John Cromwell • 1950 • United States
Starring Eleanor Parker, Agnes Moorehead, Ellen CorbyWhen nineteen-year-old Marie Allen (Eleanor Parker) arrives at a women’s prison already pregnant, she finds herself at the center of a war for her soul waged between a reform-minded warden (Agn...
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Born to Be Bad
Directed by Nicholas Ray • 1950 • United States
Starring Joan Fontaine, Robert Ryan, Zachary ScottJoan Fontaine makes for a memorably ruthless femme fatale in this deliciously dishy noir melodrama from genre master Nicholas Ray. She plays Christabel Caine, the outwardly sweet, beautiful, and do...
